Padraig Harrington is one of the most successful golfers of recent decades, so when he gives advice on how to get children interested in the game, it's always worth taking it on board.
The Irishman, who won three Majors in a 13-month spell in 2007 and 2008, got his season underway in the Dubai Desert Classic, where he narrowly missed the cut following rounds of 70 and 75.
At the event, he spoke to the DP World Tour, where he offered some words of wisdom for anyone hoping to encourage their children to follow in his footsteps with a career in the professional game - and he says it all starts by not putting pressure on them.
He began: "Just let them have fun. Let them just smash it, find it and have fun getting it in the hole. We're old and we're trying to get our kids as good as they can, quickly. That's because we don't think we have time but, if you send your kids out they're learning two, three, four, five, six weeks, three months, whatever it is they'll get there at their own pace, they'll figure it out."
A must watch for golf parents...@padraig_h explains how to get your kids to love playing golf.#HeroDubaiDesertClassic | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/mNkmaJTFkVJanuary 17, 2025
The 53-year-old, who has two sons, also acknowledged that sometimes, well-meaning advice from a parent to their child can be interpreted as criticism.
He explained: "We are so anxious, and want them to do this straight away. They have time, so we should just leave them and let them do the mistakes, and if they ask you, that's good, but don't get into it.
"Even with my own kids I'd be aware of this and I'd be telling them that, but they would always tell me if I told them something they took that as a criticism. Even if I was helping them, they would take it as 'I'm doing something wrong.'
"You're better off letting them make the mistakes and they have time, they have so much time. Our clock is out, we think 'get better right now.' Just let them enjoy it, bring them to a stress-free environment, bring them home before they get tired. Try and take them away whilst they're enjoying it, rather than waiting until they're not enjoying it."
It's not the first time Harrington has offered advice on encouraging children to develop a love for golf. Back in December 2023, he gave an epic three-minute answer on the subject where he touched on many of the same themes.
One was to ensure kids make positive associations with the game, and he reiterated the value of that, saying: "The most important thing, if you are bringing your kids to sport, is to take that five, ten minutes.
"Don't rush home, take that five minutes afterwards to sit down and have a Coca-Cola, so the child will associate that happiness and moment with the sport. The 15 minutes alone time with their parent, they'll remember that for the rest of their life. When they're playing golf at 90 years of age, they'll be enjoying the drink they were having with their mother or father when they were 10 years of age."
Harrington also stressed that adults tend to underestimate children, and said that they can work out many things without intervention.
He explained: "It's hard to do it now. You don't want to go to the nice Country Club because there's stress. Just enjoy it. Kids are so good at figuring it out, so let them at it and, if they're going to become good, this is the issue, but if they're going to become good, then there has to be love and self-driven.
"By the time they get to 13 or 14, if they're going to be professional standard, you are actually trying to pull them back. You're not trying to push them forward, at that stage they'll be so obsessed with it, but the love comes before being good. A lot of people think you get good then you love it, but if you get good then you don't love it you'll just give it up."
For Harrington's qualifications for offering the advice, you only need to go back a month to the PNC Championship, where played alongside son Paddy, who made a hole-in-one as the pair finished T3 at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando.
